Death Valley and (eventually) Orange County
Got back at midnight last night from what was a whirlwind tour of California...
On February 6, I took one of our ambulances, and a friend/EMT Jim, and headed toward Bakersfield. I wanted to leave at 6:00am, but due to technical difficulties (i.e... a diesel fuel leak), we had to repair it before we took her out for the drive. Ended up leaving at 9:00. Picked up my friend/EMT Anita in Bakersfield, and headed through the desert to Death Valley. Got to Furnace Creek around 9:30pm, and dropped off pretty rapidly to sleep (I had gotten up at 3:15am). It had been raining, and continued to do so all night. We had found out when we checked in that the marathon we were working was not going to be in Titus Canyon, due to snow and flooding. I really wanted to see Titus Canyon... maybe next year. So, now the race was going to be in Badwater, the lowest point in Death Valley.
We got out there, and began to set up shop. It stopped raining long enough for us to get the ATV out that I would spend the next 6 hours on, set up the gear on it, and get me going right after the racers took off. It began to rain pretty quickly after the race started. It wasn't hard rain, just constant. I got soaked and muddy pretty quickly. I had put on my polypro long underwear, which helped to keep me warm, although not dry. After 2 hours, though, my hands were numb. Got them to come back to life periodically by using the ATV engine to warm them. Jack-rabbited around, keeping an eye on the racers the entire time. These are hardy marathon runners! Death Valley can be brutal any time of the year, but add cold and rain into the mix... well, they did incredibly well! Jim and Anita kept shop up at the Start/Finish.
Toward the end of the race, I began to follow the last ones in. It also got colder, and was raining a bit harder. Water was becoming more apparent in the low area of the race. The racers had to jump over the streaming water.
I started getting really cold, and shaking. As the last racers crossed the finish line, I hung back, to allow them their moment of glory (and a decent finish line photo, I hope). Jim began to wave wildly at me. I came in, and he told me that there was massive flooding in the valley, and that the rangers were going to close Badwater Road any minute now. I drove the ATV all the way up to the trailer, and we got it loaded quickly. I got behind the wheel and we (The three of us, all the racers still there, and the event organizers) all left Badwater. We drove through several areas of flash flooding, and made it to the Furnace Creek Ranch, where we quickly found out that all roads in and out of Death Valley were closed. Yep, we were trapped. There was mild flooding at Furnace Creek, but the folk running the resort know how to channel the water. No problem for us, except that we couldn't leave. Not that we were planning to until morning.
I ended up mildly hypothermic, and took a 30 minute shower to warm up. Even 12 hours later, I was cold. But I was functional. I made a decision that alcohol that night was not on my menu that night... Hot food was. We got dinner, and after talking with the event organizers for a few minutes, ended up back in our rooms. I let Anita and Jim know that if the road was open when we woke up, we'd leave immediately.
The next morning, I checked with the hotel front desk. They told me that 190 westbound was open, so we packed up, checked out, and took off around 8:00am. Oops! 190 west was NOT open. In fact, we found out from the rangers that we could have made it to Stovepipe Wells, but that it was physically impossible to make it farther. They call it a "hard closure". I call it washed out road. After speaking a little more with them, we found out that 190 east was open, all the way to 127. Took it down to Baker at I-15, back to 58, and up 99 to home... Long drive, but not really longer than it is over the mountain.
Dropped off Anita in Bakersfield so she could head home. Had more technical difficulties with the ambulance while heading home,but we finally made it. Got home around 10:00pm. Threw my clothes in the laundry, and got a few hours sleep. Then I got up, packed, and went to the airport. My day job took me down to Anaheim, where I was until last night, working a conference, on my own. It was a long week...
On February 6, I took one of our ambulances, and a friend/EMT Jim, and headed toward Bakersfield. I wanted to leave at 6:00am, but due to technical difficulties (i.e... a diesel fuel leak), we had to repair it before we took her out for the drive. Ended up leaving at 9:00. Picked up my friend/EMT Anita in Bakersfield, and headed through the desert to Death Valley. Got to Furnace Creek around 9:30pm, and dropped off pretty rapidly to sleep (I had gotten up at 3:15am). It had been raining, and continued to do so all night. We had found out when we checked in that the marathon we were working was not going to be in Titus Canyon, due to snow and flooding. I really wanted to see Titus Canyon... maybe next year. So, now the race was going to be in Badwater, the lowest point in Death Valley.
We got out there, and began to set up shop. It stopped raining long enough for us to get the ATV out that I would spend the next 6 hours on, set up the gear on it, and get me going right after the racers took off. It began to rain pretty quickly after the race started. It wasn't hard rain, just constant. I got soaked and muddy pretty quickly. I had put on my polypro long underwear, which helped to keep me warm, although not dry. After 2 hours, though, my hands were numb. Got them to come back to life periodically by using the ATV engine to warm them. Jack-rabbited around, keeping an eye on the racers the entire time. These are hardy marathon runners! Death Valley can be brutal any time of the year, but add cold and rain into the mix... well, they did incredibly well! Jim and Anita kept shop up at the Start/Finish.
Toward the end of the race, I began to follow the last ones in. It also got colder, and was raining a bit harder. Water was becoming more apparent in the low area of the race. The racers had to jump over the streaming water.
I started getting really cold, and shaking. As the last racers crossed the finish line, I hung back, to allow them their moment of glory (and a decent finish line photo, I hope). Jim began to wave wildly at me. I came in, and he told me that there was massive flooding in the valley, and that the rangers were going to close Badwater Road any minute now. I drove the ATV all the way up to the trailer, and we got it loaded quickly. I got behind the wheel and we (The three of us, all the racers still there, and the event organizers) all left Badwater. We drove through several areas of flash flooding, and made it to the Furnace Creek Ranch, where we quickly found out that all roads in and out of Death Valley were closed. Yep, we were trapped. There was mild flooding at Furnace Creek, but the folk running the resort know how to channel the water. No problem for us, except that we couldn't leave. Not that we were planning to until morning.
I ended up mildly hypothermic, and took a 30 minute shower to warm up. Even 12 hours later, I was cold. But I was functional. I made a decision that alcohol that night was not on my menu that night... Hot food was. We got dinner, and after talking with the event organizers for a few minutes, ended up back in our rooms. I let Anita and Jim know that if the road was open when we woke up, we'd leave immediately.
The next morning, I checked with the hotel front desk. They told me that 190 westbound was open, so we packed up, checked out, and took off around 8:00am. Oops! 190 west was NOT open. In fact, we found out from the rangers that we could have made it to Stovepipe Wells, but that it was physically impossible to make it farther. They call it a "hard closure". I call it washed out road. After speaking a little more with them, we found out that 190 east was open, all the way to 127. Took it down to Baker at I-15, back to 58, and up 99 to home... Long drive, but not really longer than it is over the mountain.
Dropped off Anita in Bakersfield so she could head home. Had more technical difficulties with the ambulance while heading home,but we finally made it. Got home around 10:00pm. Threw my clothes in the laundry, and got a few hours sleep. Then I got up, packed, and went to the airport. My day job took me down to Anaheim, where I was until last night, working a conference, on my own. It was a long week...
Labels: EMS, Misc Rants
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